@lovlas I do appreciate all the efforts of lichess volunteers and I agree that individual users have enough ways to offer suggestions or ask questions. My point however is that, to have legitimacy in making decisions like this, lichess should have the support of a larger group of users than those active in this forum. A yearly survey of users could be helpful here.
Just my two cents of course; you might have thought this through better than I have.
I support the site and the team in all decisions they consider to be the best.
My admiration and my trust in the team is unlimited.
#11 In a way lichess does have the support of a pretty big number of users within the team that is always expanding. But I see your point. Maybe it could be a good idea to have some sort of polling system every years, to try to get feedback from as many users as possible.
I thought the titled tournament was great. What does paid content mean
@thibault? Like video tutorials from titled players? That would be pretty cool.
#14 There are plans to produce quality chess learning content.
Great topic !
My 2 cents.
lichess would naturally like to attract the top rated players, most of which are professional players, to this chess playing site.
The site offers the same service and features for everyone, free.
Elite players will attract more members, increasing donations.
Naturally, this presents a challenge: Why would world class players play here, rather than except an exclusive contract to play elsewhere?
I can think of several reasons based on why elite players would prefer to play here on line:
1. A faster and reliable server
2. Other players of equal strength
3. Services/features that enable study and storage
4. The best cheat detection
5. Tournaments
All of which are offered by lichess. Continuing to improve these features can't help but to attract the elite players.
But to take that next big step. What is missing? Elite players are playing daily at multiple sites. Record their games for further study. Are they playing for prizes? Yep. But are the few dollars won once a week by the very few reason enough to play only at a given site? I think not.
I don't think lichess should concern itself with the top 10 players in the world. These players live in a world of itself. Offering $ up for grabs is not incentive enough alone for them to play here.
By making this the most reliable and fastest site to play is a win/win for everyone.
There remains that one catch all, the "why wasn't that thought of" hook to cinch the deal. Let's think on it.
#16 It already is the fastest and most reliable chess site available, no doubt. I am not sure I agree with your view on money prizes. Sure the prizes are pocket change to the top 10. But it is still a substantial sum for the players outside the top 10. How do you get top players to join? You need other top players to play in the same tournament. The only way to do this is to offer an incentive
Yep. For sure. Offering incentives, prize money is a good start.
I suggest caution be taken in it's implementation though, that long term considerations are made before jumping in blindly. Once "expectations" are established, it often is not possible to reverse.
My thoughts are are along the lines that top players will become members, spend their time playing here, because it offers the best experience, not because a few hundred $ might be won weekly by a select few.
Prize money should be secondary to "the spirit of chess". Just my opinion. I have no problems in the least with offering prizes, just hope it doesn't become an end all.
I am disappointed to observe a website being advertised here in off topic. The site offers gambling on chess results of lichess tournaments. Imo, this is the wrong direction to take.
And for sure, it is the fastest and most reliable. This information could be advertised in some way? Not at the site itself, but through some other resource?
What if it were even faster? Blow everyone else off the map!
I agree. This tournament, and potential follow up tourneys, is of course just the icing on the cake. The main priority is to make lichess the best site possible, not to attract the big boys.
